


Destiny

by justaddfiction



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Gen, Novelization, an exercise in writing action sequences and pain, pyrrha's pov in the moments leading up to her death, seriously not kidding about graphic depictions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 04:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7919752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justaddfiction/pseuds/justaddfiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pyrrha faced the arrow and squared her shoulders. She prayed to gods she didn’t believe in to protect her friends, to send someone to finish her duty. She could only hope that she’d bought enough time with her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Destiny

The pile of gears began to glow from the inside, melting with a great heat. Suddenly they were blasted apart, flying in all directions.  Pyrrha instinctively held her shield out in front of her, but one of the larger gears flew directly at her, slamming her against a crumbling pillar. She crumpled for a moment, feeling a ripple down her skin as her aura vanished, depleted by overuse.

The woman in red raised her obsidian bow, aiming an arrow for Pyrrha. In a last-ditch effort to defend herself, Pyrrha stood and threw her shield with carefully practiced accuracy, unaided by her semblance. Akoúo̱ met the glass arrow edge-first, shattering it. But to her dismay, the glass shards glowed and reformed on the other side of the shield. The arrow flew true to its target.

It lodged itself through her ankle, shattering the delicate bones and tearing the ligaments there. With no aura, Pyrrha had no shield from the pain, and it seared through her, making thought impossible for a moment. She cried out and fell on all fours, grimacing. Nothing in her years of training had prepared her for this. She took deep breaths to keep herself under control, but a single, guttural sob escaped.

Her fight or flight instinct, having exhausted the fight, turned to flight. She braced herself and started to stand up, but her injured ankle gave way. It cracked with a sickening crunch that she heard as well as felt. She fell sideways, her ankle taking further damage as it twisted unnaturally against the glass and caused every nerve in its vicinity to scream in white-hot terror. Echoing them, she cried out. The arrowhead with its intricate, artistic design fell away from the segment of arrow shaft still lodged in her ankle. It was now a single rod of splintering glass with no hand-hold for removal. Groaning, she turned to get back on all fours again, but it was all she could do to stay conscious against the pain.

Footsteps, clinking in glass heels, circled from behind her. A smooth, sultry voice taunted, “It’s unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours.”

The woman in red was now directly in front of her, lowering herself to one knee to meet Pyrrha’s level. As the woman knelt, she caressed Pyrrha’s face in a mockery of intimacy, and pulled it up to meet her own triumphant golden eyes. A growing part of Pyrrha’s mind knew with grim certainty that this woman, her killer, would be the last human contact she’d ever have. Jaune would never have the chance to caress her skin like that, to get down on one knee before her. She’d known that was a possibility since she’d kissed him just a few minutes ago. It still broke her heart to confirm it.

“But take comfort in knowing that _I_ will use it in ways you could _never_ have imagined.” The woman smirked, a smile that fit her cruel, regal beauty. Pyrrha shook her head free and sat up, shifting her weight to her knees. The thought of Jaune and of taking comfort brought back a memory, of her last moment of peace.

“Do you believe in destiny?” she asked defiantly.

Her assailant narrowed her eyes, the smug smile abruptly dropped. “Yes.” Pyrrha noted with dull surprise that her intended meaning had landed. It was little comfort.

As quickly as the smirk had vanished, it returned. As the woman stood, shards of glass materialized all around her, forming both bow and arrow in a flash of light and heat. She drew and aimed.

Pyrrha faced the arrow and squared her shoulders. She prayed to gods she didn’t believe in to protect her friends, to send someone to finish her duty. She could only hope that she’d bought enough time with her life. Her eyes closed. _I’m sorry, Mom,_ she thought. _I’m sorry, Nora, Ren, everyone. I’m so sorry, Jaune._

She heard a _thump_ of something landing far off to her left, then the _twang_ of the bowstring in front of her. An arrow identical to the one in her ankle drove through her heart and stuck out through her back.

Her eyes flew open, a last, futile adrenaline rush trying to save her. Automatically her left hand reached for the arrow where it was buried, but even as it did, she was losing air, her punctured lung failing, and she took deep, shuddering gasps for air. Each spasming heartbeat tore the muscle more, pain flaring with each frantic pulse, her extremities beginning to lose feeling as they lacked oxygenated blood. Her arms fell limp to her sides.

The red woman stepped forward and placed a hand on the side of Pyrrha’s head. In a brilliant flare of golden light, Pyrrha’s body disintegrated into glowing dust, flying away across the ruins of Vale.


End file.
